Directorial debut of Scarlett Johansson shines at the Toronto International Film Festival
Published September 24, 2025 at 2:30 pm
It’s hard to know what to make of Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut and a film that explores many–perhaps too many–timely and eternal themes. The film is notable for a few reasons, and one is acclaimed actor June Squibb’s exceptional performance. Another reason is, of course, the film’s director.
Johansson boasts an impressive career and, according to Variety, is currently the highest-grossing movie star of all time.
An actor and singer, Johansson’s career kicked off in the 90s, and she’s made a name for herself in both lower-budget indie darlings and big-name blockbusters (including the Avengers and Jurassic Park franchises). She’s also been nominated for two Academy Awards–best actress in A Marriage Story and best supporting actress for Jojo Rabbit (and both in the same year, no less).
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Johansson, 40, has been candid about the pitfalls of being repeatedly typecast as a blonde bombshell-type character, revealing on the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast that she felt “groomed” into taking on certain roles and had reservations about the direction her career was moving in, often worrying about how long those kinds of gigs can last.
Diversifying her portfolio (so to speak) has kept Johansson’s star shining bright over a career spanning about three decades, and Eleanor the Great, her first behind-the-camera feature, seems like a promising start.
The film, which just had its North American premiere at TIFF, is watchable and engrossing, benefiting from a jovial, funny and sincere performance from Squibb. The movie attempts to tackle big topics–grief, deception, faith, friendship and aging, to name a few–and does so tenderly, but not always believably.
In the film, Squibb plays Eleanor, a 94-year-old woman who is spry and astute, but adrift after losing her best friend, Bessie (Rita Zohar). From the moment we see the two women waking up together (in the same room, but not the same bed) in their Florida home, it becomes apparent that the long-time widows are the true loves of each other’s lives. Their friendship is easy but deep, and Bessie’s sudden death leaves Eleanor reeling as she attempts to start over–just six years shy of her 100th birthday–at her daughter and grandson’s New York apartment.
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Eleanor’s relationship with her daughter, Lisa (Jessica Hecht), is fraught. Eleanor is aloof and critical, leaving Lisa to dodge her barbs and do her best to keep her aging mother occupied during the day. To get her out of the house, Lisa tells Eleanor to visit the local Jewish Community Centre, where she befriends Nina (Erin Kellyman), a 19-year-old journalism student who is grieving the sudden loss of her mother.
The friendship, genuine as it is, begins on false pretenses when Eleanor is mistaken for a Holocaust survivor and Nina begs her to share her story for an article she’s working on. Unable (or unwilling) to correct Nina and the support group members transfixed by her story, Eleanor claims Bessie’s experience as her own, telling the harrowing tale of escaping certain death at a concentration camp and losing her beloved brother in the process.
Keenly interested in Eleanor’s loss, Nina insists on connecting outside of the JCC and the two women develop a sweet and believable friendship that is, despite the deception at its core, real. While Eleanor isn’t initially honest about who she has lost, she is indeed suffering from a loss and can relate to Nina’s despair.
The film is strongest when Eleanor talks to Nina and, in some flashbacks, Bessie. It stumbles a little with an abrupt conclusion that lays bare the truth of what has transpired, and works quickly–perhaps too quickly–to give viewers a satisfying ending. The final act feels a bit forced, but the lead-up is touching.
Ultimately, the takeaway is that a person can do a terrible thing, but not be a terrible person (something we often forget). People are complex, and overwhelming emotions can derail even the most conscientious among us.
Eleanor the Great is imperfect, but it seems like a good start in the next chapter of Johansson’s career.